Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Well, I hope you have had a fine day.  Tate Committed to Christ today and Sean prayed to receive Him.

When I first got to school I went to my advisors office on the 3rd floor of the BIC to get some names he’d gotten for me for Bible study.  He advises more than one of the Christian groups on campus and so kids ask for information from him.  Then I headed down the hall. Tate was sitting dressed in black pants and jacket on a bench on the other side of the building.  Dark brown hair cut short, couple random freckles, nice good looking guy, seemed pretty together.  He said he’d give me a couple minutes. So I asked him what he would say to God if he died and God asked him why he should be let into heaven.  He thought for just a moment and said, “Look at my past.”  Just to be certain what he meant I said, “That you had done enough good to go to heaven?”  He said yes to that and sensing he wasn’t going to give me much time I asked him if he went to Church.  He’d said he had a 95% chance to go to heaven so I assumed he did.  He named a church and I asked, “Catholic?”  “Lutheran,” he clarified.  I said I had been raised Lutheran and asked him how God had taken away his sin, pointing out that God wished to live inside him with His holy Spirit, but his sin had to be removed first.  He knew Jesus had died for him.  I explained Jesus’ imputed righteousness with an analogy he liked and said, “So you don’t go to heaven because you’re good but because Jesus is good.”  So I asked, “When you ask for forgiveness because you’ve done something wrong, have you truly been trusting in that Jesus has died for you and so your sins are forgiven? Or are you thinking you are a good person basically, go to church and God is merciful and forgiving?”  “That’s a good question,” he said after thinking a moment.  “Because,” I continued “it seems like from your response you are trusting that you are good enough.”  The light dawned then.  “I don’t want to push too hard, but if you are not trusting in Jesus’ death and payment for your sins, you haven’t been forgiven for your sins and you won’t go to heaven.”  He realized I was right.  I explained he was in college and “You are a man. You have to decide these things. You grow up in the church and it is talked about. You go along with it because aren’t trying to raise the roof or anything.”  He agreed.  I took out the booklet and read a couple verses, since he already knew the Gospel absent the need to make a decision. I showed him the prayer and he agreed with it but wanted to pray it on his own.  I said that was fine.  He shook my hand and thanked me.  “But tell me, do you believe Jesus is God and died for your sins and rose from the dead? And are you trusting in that as your only hope of being right with God and going to heaven?”  He said he did.  “Well, the Bible says if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead – so trust in the whole story – you’ll be saved.”  He nodded and smiled, seemed like it helped.  “So based on your confession, I’ll see you there.”  He shook my hand again and said, “I’ll see you again.”  “I’ll see you then,” I replied.  And I got up to walk away and he thanked me again.  I said, “Sure.”

Sean is a small guy. He had a mop of brown hair, parted towards the middle, and a couple days growth of beard. Nice looking kid. He was a quiet-spoken, kind guy.  He had silver rimmed glasses, wearing a t-shirt and jeans and, believe it or not, was using a pink crochet hook to make something with bright green yarn.  I didn’t ask. The project so far was only as big as a book mark.  I asked Him why God should let him into heaven and he thought for a while saying, “That’s a good question.”  And thinking more said, “I don’t know. I guess I would say I tried my best… ah, yeah.”  He had gone to Lombard Bible Chapel as a kid and later a Catholic church, but gave no explanation for the change and didn’t seem to have gone anywhere of late.  I began to go through the Gospel with Him and he was really interested, making eye contact as I gave explanation with Bible verses.  A girl, Jelemy (Jell-a-mee) who was his girlfriend, came in and sat in the lounge and later sat beside him after he had prayed.  He thought he had a 75% chance of going to heaven.  He tracked well and understood the Gospel and wanted to be forgiven.  I explained he could pray for forgiveness, walking him through a prayer in the booklet. I explained the work of the Holy Spirit in living the Christian life and Sean prayed silently to receive Christ after I told him to pretend I was not there.  He took his time with it and then Jelemy sat next to us.  I was offering him a book as she did and began to explain the Gospel a bit to her.  She seemed reasonably sure she had been trusting in Christ, so I encouraged her to think about it and possibly pray later. I explained a bit more and repeating myself on several points, suggested Sean could explain it to her.  I gave them both Bible Studies and Sean took The Case for Christ, which seemed to impress her as he did not take the shorter version of the book.  She said she was not a reader but they each took a copy of The Bible Promise Book.  She knew the fruit of the Spirit by heart in Galatians and so seemed to be from something of an evangelical background.  I gave them a couple invitation cards for Compass Church in town.   They gave me their email to send them a study and we said good bye.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob

To donate to our college ministry:

http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed walking with Him.  I had a good day on campus and Heyley, Brionna, Lexi and Dan all prayed to receive Jesus today.

Dan was the first guy I talked with and he was sitting on the hallway back to the lounge at the NW corner on ground floor of the BIC.  He was wearing a baseball cap turned backwards and had a shaggy beard, sandy hair and sharp features.  Looked like a good old boy if we were in the South.  I asked him if he died what he would say to God if asked why He should let him into Heaven.”Well, let’s see… that’s a good question.”  He thought more and said, “Let’s see,” again.  ‘”Cause I’ve tested my faith in many different ways.  I’m a firm believer in God and Heaven and I’ve done the best I could on earth.”  He thought he had about a 75% change of ending up in Heaven.  He was going to church every day of the week to show he was serious about Lent.  Lent begins tomorrow, so possibly he meant he intended to go.  I went through the Gospel and he seemed to have some “ah ha” moments, realizing how it all fit together, though he hadn’t understood the Gospel.  But the familiarity of it came back as I talked him through the Good News.  I tied the atonement into a symbolic view of the Mass that he agreed with.  I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven and he said he did and then began to say, “I made the leap of faith, believed in God, what other people believe is up to them.”  “Yes, it’s America, people are free to believe as they wish,” I said. “But the God you have chosen to believe in says He died for you.  Would you want to trust in that to be forgiven and have God’s Spirit living in you to have the strength to live the Christian life?”  He said he felt like he had never really trusted in that and had kind of just “pushed the button” of acceptance of religious practice.  “Not with your heart,” I replied.  “Right.” and he decided to pray to receive Christ.  He was truly grateful and relieved to think of himself trusting in Christ’s imputed righteousness.  “So I’m ok,” he stated about being right with God and I said he was.  He thanked me again.  I left him with a Bible study, The Bible Promise Book  and The Student Edition of The Case for Christ.  I’ll be praying for him.

I headed over to the PE building after a few hours of back and forth and had a couple good conversations.  I sat down with Heyley (Haley) and Brionna who were just chatting on the lounge couches upstairs by the workout area.  Heyley was a strawberry (wavy/curly/long) blonde haired girl in a pink jacket, cute, kinda tough kid.  Brionna had straightened black hair down past her shoulders coming down in waves out of a black baseball cap.  She had braces and was pretty, African American.  She thought she’d like to be a professional dancer of some kind. She was an athlete.  Heyley wanted to go to South Africa, saying her church took trips there.  She said she was Southern Baptist but her church was Charismatic.  Brionna had been to church when she was young.  When I asked them why God should let them into Heaven, Heyley said, “I spent my time on Earth very useful, I lived life.”  Brionna said, “I haven’t done much wrong, I don’t wanna go down below, that’s a harsh place.”  They were both reasonably sure they’d go to Heaven.  Heyley said 80% and Brionna said 75%.  Neither of them knew how God took away their sins.  I was going back and forth trying to keep them both engaged on either side of me and then Lexi plopped down with one leg through the donut shaped, ring table in front of us and began listening attentively.  She had chin-length hair, a white ball-cap with a black bill on and was wearing workout clothes, short African American, cute kid.  And that is literally all I know about her except she’s not a reader since after I later gave her a Book on Bible Basics she handed it back saying she honestly wouldn’t read it and I should give it to someone who would.  Well, the Church is filled with peeps who never read a book on Bible Basics and never will. Hey people are sheep.  Just as Lexi sat, (in God’s perfect timing) I began to explain the Death of Christ for their sins and His righteousness being to their credit if they were adopted into God’s family. “Ya marry a millionaire, ya got a million bucks. You get adopted into a Billionaire’s family you get to live in the mansion and drive the cars.  When God adopts you, you get the blessings of being in His family. The righteousness of Christ is a gift to you.”  Lexi interrupted with a question on Tattoos which I answered. She then let me go on.  In the end they all wanted to be forgiven.  I got Lexi’s name and shook her hand firmly and she said, “Damn Bob!”  teasing me about the grip, so I played that up a bit.  I opened a book for each of them and each prayed a prayer to receive Christ and be forgiven.  I gave them all Bible Studies to read but only Heyley wanted a Bible Promise.  They happily took the booklets.  I messed a bit with them some and left them to their day.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God guided me an blessed.

In Him,

Bob

To donate to college ministry: http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed walking with Him.  I had a good day walking around campus.  Tristan prayed with me to receive Jesus and I went through the Gospel with two different Islamic guys on either side of the BIC building.  Burham from India and Muhammad from Pakistan.  Muhammad and I spoke for a long time and I gave him several pieces of information in pamphlet form as we touched upon their content.  He had taken a religion class and now was taking an Old Testament class.  I gave him stuff on why we trust the Bible records, 100 prophecies Jesus fulfilled and a track on Jesus in the Quran that I had also given Burham.  Both were friendly amicable guys.

Tristan was the last guy I spoke with.  I was pretty tired, still feeling a bit under the weather, but thought I would ask one more person as I headed toward the lockers.  He was sitting on the ground floor of the BIC building in a lounge looking at his computer and killing time it seemed until Basketball practice started at 3:30.  When he stood up at the end of our talking, he seemed several inches taller than me, maybe 6’5″s or so.  He had a mop of dark brown hair and hadn’t shaved for a couple days, showing where a sparse beard would come in.  He wore black athletic shorts and a black fleece pullover and high-tops.  He hadn’t been to church in awhile, saying he used to go to church with his aunt where she worked.  When I asked him why God should let him into Heaven he said, “You know, I have been thinking about this lately.”  He thought some more and talking about Church he said, “I’d like to get back into it… a church is a good thing to have. I think it is necessary and It’s important.”  When I asked him if he thought he had an answer to the question he said, “I don’t know.”  He didn’t have much hope he’d go to Heaven and gave it 55%.  As I went through the Gospel with him, I asked if he remembered at all how Jesus had taken away his sins and he couldn’t remember anything. But he tracked right along with the Gospel and so in the end I asked him if he would want to be forgiven for his sins, trusting in Jesus and have God living in him.  Thinking, he said, “Most people would want to do that but the question is after.”  He wondered about sticking with it and finding a church and I explained how the Holy Spirit living in Him would give him the strength when he asked to live the Christian life.  I showed him a prayer he could pray and asked if it represented what he wanted, “Pretty much, yeah, ” he replied so I asked if anything about it wasn’t true for him and he slowly read it again and said, “Nope.”  I asked if he’d like to pray and he said, “Yeah.”  And he quietly prayed to receive Christ.  There was a family Bible at home so I gave him one of his own, encouraging him to begin by reading in John and explaining the Holy Spirit a bit more in the Christian life.  I gave him a copy of The Bible Promise Book and a card for the Compass Church.  He said he’d email me and ran to practice.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance.  God truly led me and blessed.

In Him,

Bob

To donate to college ministry: http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and you sensed the presence of the Lord.  I have a good day on campus.  I was a bit peaked and slowly losing what was left of my voice, but Erika prayed to receive Jesus today.  I also gave a little lesson on evangelism to a Young Life leader, named Leah, that I hope will help her and gave her a Bible Basics book to help her understand the Bible.

Erika is a pretty Filipino girl with a couple highlights in her hair and a thick long braid that was wrapped around her right shoulder.  She was fair skinned with slightly almond shaped eyes. She has only been in America for 3 years and her family planned on coming years before that, making sure she learned English.  She was sitting at one of the bar height, two-seat tables that overlook the MAC Arts Building lounge from the floor above.  She grew up 7th Day Adventist and when I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven she said, “Because I have done the best I can to follow His teachings.”  She only thought she had a 50% chance of going to Heaven, however.  As I went through the Gospel with her it was all familiar to her and she nodded in agreement.  She wanted to be forgiven for her sins and have God live inside her.  I asked her, since she seemed to have known the Gospel, if when she prayed for forgiveness she had been trusting that God would forgive her because Jesus had died for her and her sins were paid for, or if she was hoping He would forgive her because He was merciful and she was religious.  She said she hadn’t been trusting in Christ and so I offered her a prayer she could pray to begin a relationship with God and she prayed quietly to receive Christ.  She was visibly happy then and said, “Thank you.  This is really what I needed today.”  We talked some more and I gave her a Bible Promise Book and the Student Edition of The Case for Christ.  I explained the Bible Study I had given her on the ways Jesus claimed to be God through the Old Testament, and she said she’d like to come to Bible study.  “Lately I’ve been thinking I wanted to connect to my faith more. This is just what I needed.”  She thanked me several more times. She was so sweet. It was really great to be able to be the one to help her understand a commitment to Christ.

So thanks for your prayers for the Ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance.  God truly blessed

Blessing in Christ,

Bob

To donate to college ministry: http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you are doing well in the Lord. I managed to make myself sick being outside without a coat (working on Friday) and recent stress did me in and I got a sore throat and aches.  So I have been limping through the weekend and sequestered myself indoors today for the thaw we are having in Illinois.

But on Thursday, Will prayed to receive Christ.  He was sitting down by the Student Activities offices on a couch.  (An area I avoided for a few years until I got a Lawyer to secure my right to free speech.)  I walked up to ask him if he wanted to do a student survey for our Bible study group.  He had a boyish face and a crewcut, jeans on and a black long-sleeved fleece shirt, the sleeve of which he pulled up exposing his bicep in reply.  He began showing me a large cross, each end with 3 curved tips and informed me he was a Catholic and now attended Willow Creek.  Tattoos as evidence of salvation was suggested to me earlier in the year by Ramy who also prayed to receive Jesus.  “Well, the survey is questions about God and stuff like: You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus, so you’re dead and you stand before God and He says why should I let you into Heaven?  What would you say?”  “I’ve done some bad things but I have done good things to make up for it,” Will said without hesitation.  I said the Bible said something a bit different and asked him if he wanted to hear some verses. He was ok with that, so I began to go through the Gospel with him.  He listened well and I asked him, “When you pray for forgiveness, are you trusting that Jesus has died for you so you know you will be forgiven? Or have you thought, ‘I’m a good person and God is merciful.'”  “A little of both” he responded.  “Well, you need to put all your trust in Jesus” I said.  It was obvious to me from his first response that he had a view of salvation based on his earning it. “I know you knew the story because it is all over the Catholic Church, and you probably heard it at Willow. But have you ever had a moment where you told God, ‘This is how I am going to roll now.’ Or did you kind of just drift into it?” [And began going to Willow.]  “Just drifted.” he replied.  So I offered him a prayer where he could receive forgiveness based on Jesus when he’d said he wanted to be forgiven and have God live inside him.  I walked him through the prayer and he prayed to receive Christ.  So that was great.  I offered him a book but he said he read his Bible, one verse every night.  I think he had sensed at Willow that there was more life than he had been experiencing in the Catholic Church and now he has understood the Gospel rightly and come in.  He thanked me and shook my hand.

So thanks so much for your prayers for the ministry and for Evangelism last Thursday if you had a chance.  God blessed and I planted some good seeds too with two different guys named Alex.  Each were close to a decision, saying they believed the Gospel but not sure they were ready to commit their lives to following Christ.  Both had good questions. One tall with dark brown hair and a thin mustache, the other kind of an all-American guy look, shorter with sandy hair.

Blessings,

Bob Bollow

To donate to our college ministry:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I had a good day today. I hope you were walking with the Lord and good things came to you today.  Bri and Liz prayed with me to receive Christ.

Bri is an attractive African American girl. She had highlighted, shoulder-length straight hair.  Her face was shaped like the profile of a diamond on its side, her chin not quite that sharp though. She had full lips and black-rimmed glasses.  She was a very nice girl and attended The Progressive Baptist church.  She agreed to do a survey with me.   She’d been sitting in the MAC arts building at a small bar-height table with stools at the back doors on the top floor and so I took a chair.  When I asked her what she would say to God as to why He should let her into Heaven she said, “That’s where I always thought I’d end up. I’m not a bad person. That’s where I want to go.”  But as I went through the Gospel and asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sins back in the day, she had no idea.  I explained how God could live inside her if He took away her sins, then He would truly know her from the inside and how He did that.  “Then He won’t ask you why He should let you into Heaven but He’d say, ‘Oh Bri, I know you.’”  So I walked her though the rest of the Gospel and she said she wanted to be forgiven.  I showed her the prayer and asked her if it was the desire of her heart. She said it was and she prayed to receive Jesus.  I gave her a Bible Study and let her pick a book. She took a copy of God Loves You: He Always Has–He Always Will.  She took a Bible study as well and I got her email to send her some stuff.

Later I was walking in the Science building and asked Liz if she wanted to do a survey.  She had shoulder-length brown hair and an oval face.  She was wearing a bright fitted cubs t-shirt, Jeans and Uggs.  Liz is a short Latino girl.  She seemed a bit hesitant to do a survey but seemed to want to know the answer to the question I threw her way, so I offered her a booklet.  She thought she’d like that and handing her the booklet I began to explain the Gospel to her, still not knowing her name.  I had really only planned to give her an introduction to help her understand the verses she would encounter.  But she liked what I was saying and kept listening, so after a couple minutes I introduced myself and got her first name. I opened the booklet and read some of the verses to her.  I could tell the good news she heard was novel to her.  She’d said she was Roman Catholic at one point and looked Latino. She had wanted to be forgiven when I finished the Gospel story.  And then I asked if, when she prayed for forgiveness, she had been trusting that Jesus had died for her, or in being good and that God was merciful. She picked the second option.  I walked her through the prayer too and she prayed to receive Jesus.  She only had a family Bible at home so I gave her one and encouraged her to read in the Book of John.  I also gave her The Bible Promise Book and my contact information.  So that worked out great.

Thanks for your prayers for the Ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God truly blessed.  And we got two new girls at the Bible study tonight:  Emelina who prayed to receive Christ last year came with her friend Danielle.

In Him,

Bob Bollow

To donate to our college ministry:

http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you’ve had a good week so far walking with Christ.  I had a great day on campus Monday.

Kristy was the second person I talked to and was a faithful church-attender in the Catholic Church, at Our Lady of Mercy.  She had stick straight, more blonde than brown hair, no make-up and a heavy knit sweater on.  Cute kid.  She was sitting on the bench facing the hall, off a lounge toward the west end of the BIC building.  She was just about to begin something on her phone and said she’d already done a student survey last year.  I think the Cru group on campus walks around and does spiritual interest surveys.  I’m not sure why as they don’t seem to share the Gospel.  So I asked a version of the evangelical pick up line. “Did they ask you this?  You’re walking down the road, you get hit by a bus.  So you’re dead, and you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?”  She said, “No they didn’t ask that.” So I asked if she’d like to do a questionnaire with me and find out the answer and she agreed.   I asked her what she would say to the question.  Answering, she said, “That I’ve done my best not to sin, to try to follow you as best I can.”  She was sure she was going to Heaven.  Then she listened right in to the Gospel and the verses related. She said she wanted to be forgiven and have the Spirit of Christ live in her. So I said.  “When you pray for forgiveness, are you thinking God will forgive you because you are basically a good and religious person?  Or have you thought Jesus died for your sins and so you knew you would be forgiven?”  “I never thought about the second one,” she replied. “You hear it all the time [at church] but I never thought about it that deeply.”  So I said if she wanted to be forgiven, all she had to do was ask. I walked her through the prayer and she decided she would pray quietly in her heart and she did.  I gave her a Bible Promise Book and a Bible study on the Deity of Christ. She said she’d like to drop into Bible Study, so I hope she will.

Towards the end of the day I was walking down the south-side hall of the BIC building behind two black guys whose names turned out to be Cordell and DiAngelo.  They seemed to be going back and forth about something I couldn’t hear the details of and they passed a thirty-something black woman sitting at some exit doors who gave them a dirty look.  But she smiled when I smiled at her.  About ten steps later I happened to be looking at my feet when Cordell turned to say to me something like “Am I right?” He had a thick afro growing into dreads, a wide bridged nose, he was about 6’2″. DiAngelo was about 5’8″ and had sharp features, was smaller in build and had a mustache and very short hair.  “Oh you didn’t see” He said.  “You seem like a fine man I’ll be happy to take your word for it,” I replied.  They kind of slowed in the hall until I was beside them and Cordell started talking about observing beauty and kind of asked what I thought about it.  I said it was fine as long as you don’t lust and start thinking the wrong way about it.  “See!” he said to DiAngelo.  “That’s what I’m sayin.”  I messed with them a little and had them listening. I told DiAngelo that the way to control his thoughts was by the power of the Holy Spirit inside him.  Cordell agreed with me and then I said “So let me ask you this” and asked the same question as with Kristy. They both seemed stumped a bit.  I asked them if they had a minute and they did, so we walked over to the next set of doors in the empty hall. I asked them some more questions.  Cordell knew Jesus’ death on the Cross had paid for his sins as I went through the Gospel, but DiAngelo didn’t.  In the end DiAngelo wanted to be forgiven and prayed to receive Christ as Cordell and I looked on.  He took a Bible Promise Book and Playing with Purpose.  I gave How Good Is Good Enough? to Cordell and each of them a Bible Study.

Then I ran off to get home to get a suit on for a funeral. So thanks for your prayers for the ministry, and for evangelism today if you had a chance.  God blessed as He often has. I’ll be back out on Wednesday.

In Him,

Bob Bollow
To donate to our college ministry:

http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you were blessed today walking with the Lord.  I had a slow day on campus, talking primarily with people who were Christians or claimed to be.  Some who claimed they would appeal to their good works to get into Heaven and then later said they were trusting in Christ.  A girl in the Cru group on campus tried to maintain, after appealing to her religious works, that she had a relationship with God and people “say it [the Gospel] different ways.”  I pointed out that this was not truly the Gospel if you were not telling people they had to trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.  I pointed out I had just talked to a Catholic woman who basically claimed she was saved by the sacraments (though the Bible nowhere teaches sacraments save you or sanctify you).  

The woman told me I should become a Catholic, asking me why I was not.  I explained that the Bible did not teach the power of sacraments to save you, but that Baptism saved you by an appeal to God for a clear conscience [1Pet. 3:21 “And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you — not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience — through the resurrection of Jesus Christ”] So Baptism must be an appeal to God by the one baptized, by the definition of scripture.  The ceremony is not a power in and of itself, performed as a rite by the Church that saves you as described in scripture.  She then told me I should pray about this, ignoring the verses I quoted to her.  I told her I had had a sacramentalist for a professor and had studied it already in Graduate school.  I had already examined her claims against the Bible and believed them to be false on that basis.  She paraphrased Jesus saying you must eat his flesh and drink His blood, but I pointed out that this metaphor is from John 6 before the Lord’s supper was instituted by Jesus (on the night before His death) much later on.  And so John 6 could not be about the same thing (as the Lord’s Supper), since before that people were saved (considered righteous Jews) by faith that Jesus was the Messiah.  So in no place in Scripture does the Bible say ordinances like Baptism or the Lord’s Supper act upon you independently to save you, take away your sin or sanctify you.  God sanctifies you by Himself with His Spirit and needs no devices (1 Thessalonians 5:23).  

Getting back to the CRU girl, I helped her understand what she needed to be certain of and what she said doing evangelism and she accepted my help and I gave her the booklet.  She had been trying to say you did not simply have faith in Jesus but also had to have a relationship with Him.  I explained the Bible says that when you have faith in His death and resurrection to save you from your sin, the Holy Spirit enters you.  And this is what it means to know God: that we are one with Him, by His indwelling Spirit, which we receive as soon as we have faith (Gal. 3:2 Rom. 8:9).  This means knowing God, thus being in a relationship with Him if you wish to describe it that way (though the Bible does not use that relational language), is a reality that exists if we have faith because the Spirit in us makes us one with God.  So being one with God would be the definition of being in a relationship with Him.  It is not possible to have genuine faith and NOT have the presence of the Spirit in you, which would then place you in relationship with God having become one with Him.  It is possible to think you have a relationship with God and even feel you are close to Him and be mistaken, IF you do not have genuine faith in the Work of God in Christ (and as Christ) on the Cross dying for you. You might even know the story of Christ’s work but have never trusted in it.  People who do not have a relationship with God and think they do are often trusting in religious feelings they get by doing religious works.  Even miracles, casting out demons and prophesying don’t cut it, it is only faith. (Matt. 7:20-23)

So I did get close to a person trusting Christ.  God was moving on Frank, a black guy, but otherwise just teaching the truth today.  Thanks for your prayers. God was with me.

In Him,

Bob
To donate to our college ministry:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Hope ya had a good day and felt the presence of the Lord.  I had a good day on campus.  Megan and Kendall both prayed to receive Christ today.
Megan was sitting on the floor of the center lounge in the science buildings and said she’d answer some questions.  She had dyed her hair a lighter shade of red, close to orange-red.  It was put up generally and she had some base on for make-up and a black t-shirt that read: “I woke up this way.”   She had gray sweats on and was a kind, pleasant person, just drinkin’ a coke from a plastic bottle.   When I asked her what she’d say to God to let her into Heaven she said, “I led a somewhat faithful life.  I go to church.  I haven’t done anything wrong necessarily… I’ve been a good person I think.”  But she thought she’d only have a 40% chance of going to Heaven.   She listened to the Gospel seriously and took it all in and I asked her if she would want to be forgiven.  She said she would, so I asked her if she had ever really thought about God forgiving her because Jesus had died for her or if she had pretty much just grown up going to church (she went to a Roman Catholic Church) and done what her parents had done.   I suggested that she was an adult and had to make up her own mind.  She agreed and said, “Yeah I’m 20 now.  I’m away from my parents.  I have to decide what to believe.”  She decided she wanted to pray to receive Christ as her Savior.  She prayed quietly in her heart.  I showed her some stuff in the booklet about the Christian life and the work of the Holy Spirit.  She was into science so she took a copy of The Case for a Creator to read and a Bible study, and then had to run to class.  I told her I would pray for her. Nice kid.

Kendall was and African American suburban guy sitting in the hallway outside the bookstore in an armchair across from some noisy distracting girls who fortunately left, asking him to watch their stuff.  I was grateful to God for that, as it made it easier for him to listen to the Gospel.  He was wearing a hoodie with the hood up, had reddish hair and tan cargo pants sandals and socks on.  He said he went to a church called Crossway but didn’t know where it was, “I just get in the car with my Dad.  He takes me.”  He thought he had about a 40% chance of going to Heaven.  I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven and he said, “I don’t know.  I don’t really think I deserve to be in Heaven yet.  I’ve been making some bad decisions lately.  I need to get myself straight sometimes.”  He listened closely to the Gospel, however not really getting the question when I asked him the big thing Jesus did when He was alive on earth to take away his sins.   I reminded him that Jesus had died for him and Kendall seemed to remember a bit, and then I went on to explain whole of the Gospel.  After going through several verses of Scripture and explaining it all, I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done for him.  He said he did, and prayed receive Christ after I walked him through the prayer.  He was happy and I explained the work of the Holy Spirit in him to give him the power to live the Christian life and make better choices, something we could all use help in each day.  He took a copy of the Student Edition of The Case for Faith to read and a bible study on the Deity of Christ and I got his email to send him some stuff.

With the exception of Tina, a cute freckled-faced girl with a dark complexion, deep red tint in her long brown hair and red tennis shoes on who was close to committing to Christ, the rest of the day I talked with peeps who turned out to be Christians.  Tina took a copy of the book God Loves You by David Jeremiah.  I’ll be praying for her as I hope she’ll commit to Christ.  Her dad is a Christian and gives her apologetic books.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for Evangelism today if you had a chance.  God blessed the work and 5 people prayed to receive Jesus this week. 
In Him,

Bob

To donate to our college ministry:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I hope you had a great day walking with the Lord.  I had a good day of evangelism, though I had a headache that wouldn’t give up and dragged on me a bit.  I only got through the Gospel completely with 3 students in all the hours I was at school.  Almost everyone turned me down.   But Cindy, Julian and Thandi  [pronounced ‘Tandie’] all prayed to receive Jesus today.

Cindy was sitting in the BIC Building in the hall on a bench by herself.  Pretty Latino girl with almond shaped eyes, she had shredded jeans on (thread bare over most of her shins and her thighs) white tennis shoes and shoulder length brown hair.  I asked her what was one thing she wanted to do before she died and she said “Go to Africa and teach poor children.”  She seemed like a really sweet person and an introvert.  When I asked her what she’d say to God if He asked her why He should let her into Heaven, she thought for a minute as if the question really threw her off.  Kind of reaching for something she said, “Because I never killed anyone…” she paused and then kind of pleading her case she said, “I’m a good person.”  She was pretty sure she was going to Heaven though and gave it 90%, and regularly went to the Catholic Church.  She hadn’t been thinking in terms of the Gospel at all.  When I asked, “What’s the big thing Jesus did back in the day to take away your sins?”  I could tell she knew as soon as she heard herself say it that was wrong but said, guessing, “He was baptized.”  But then I explained the Gospel and she tuned right in.  I asked her if she wanted to be forgiven and right away she said she did and admitted, smiling a bit, that she had just been hoping she was good and religious and God would forgive her.  She prayed to receive Christ and I realized I was running out of time as she had to get to class.  So I quickly explained the work of the Spirit in the Christian life.  I gave her a more remembrance view of the Mass, saying she could use that time to be grateful, knowing she was forgiven because Christ had died for her.  I gave her a Bible Study, More Than a Carpenter to read and a Bible, telling her I would keep her in my prayers and giving her my email and she ran to class.

Julian was laying on a bench in the MAC Arts building, by the front doors, listening to his phone.  He went to a community Church in town.  He had a short brown beard and shorter wavy hair that matched.  Dressed in jeans, white shoes, good lookin’ guy, bigger than average (he took up the bench, they are the best ones to sit on in the school and I have sat on them all.)  When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “’Cause I’ve dedicated my life to actually doing good things.  That’s really it, my family there, being with them.  I’d hate to be alone for eternity.”  He still only thought he had a 75% chance to go to Heaven.  He listened to the Gospel and got it when I said, “You don’t go to Heaven because you are good.  You go to Heaven because Jesus was good.”  He realized he hadn’t been trusting in what Jesus had done for him on the Cross and prayed to receive Christ.  He had his pride pricked a bit I think, as anyone’s could be, in realizing he cannot be good enough to go to Heaven.  I explained the work of the Spirit to Julian and gave him a Bible study, but he did not want a book saying he had a lot of books.  I’ve no doubt he does.  Sadly many so called Christian books written these days are not worth reading.  I will be praying for him.  Please pray his acceptance of the Gospel truly sinks in.

I asked Thandi if she wanted to do a student survey and she turned me down so I said no worries and kept walking.  But I was prompted to offer her a booklet to read on her own as I sometimes am, so I turned around and walked back to give her one.   She accepted it, so I just began to explain the Gospel to her a bit.  First how Jesus had died to take away her sins and God wanted to live inside her.  Having already told her the answer, I asked why God might let her into Heaven.  She said she thought because she was a good person.  So I kept explaining things to her.  I was going to keep preaching to her until it seemed like she didn’t want to listen.  But she seemed to be getting more comfortable with me as the Spirit worked with the Word.  She is a very pretty African American girl.  Stick straight hair and jeans, white tennis shoes on, she’d done some cool stuff with her eye make-up.  I got to receiving Christ and got out a booklet to show her some verses and told her how God turned even our bad stuff into good stuff, quoting Romans 8:28.  I asked her if she would want to be forgiven and she said she would.  I said, “Do you believe Jesus is God and has died for your sins and rose from the dead?”  She thought for a second and said, “Yes.”  So I asked her if she would like to trust in that and she nodded.  I walked her through the prayer, offering it to her, saying she could pray it quietly and God would read her thoughts and to pretend I wasn’t there.  She did.  I gave her a Bible study and as I explained it I felt the Spirit.  I explained how the Christian life was inside out, first being transformed by God on the inside by His Spirit and then it showing on the outside.  I gave her my email, trying to be careful not to step on the good vibe God had created and left her in her new found faith.

Thanks so much for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance.  God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob
To donate to our college ministry:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp